Vacuum producing apparatus



July 28, 1942. FRANCFORT Q 2,291,032

VACUUM PRODUCING APPARATUS Original Filed May 15, 1940 Patented July 28, 1942 VACUUM PRODUCING APPARATUS Alfred H. Francfort, Middle Haddam, Conn.

Continuation of application Serial No. 334,946, 'May 13, 1940. This application March 18, 1941,

Serial No. 383,980

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing a vacuum and is a continuation of copending application Serial No. 334,946, filed May 13, 1940, by the same, inventor, and later abandoned.

The object of the present invention is to provide a method and a system wherein the natural forces resulting from the sudden interruption of a flowing column of liquid are utilizedto create power, which power may be utilized as, for example, to create a vacuum and wherein, these forces are so controlled that a repetition of the cycle will result whereby each cycle'will produce an increment of vacuum until an accumulated maximum vacuum hasbeen obtained.

A still further object is the utilization of the liquid flow for automatically operating the apparatus for controlling the flow within the system.

A still further advantage is that the apparatus is of extremely simple construction, utilizing a minimum number of parts which will be entirely automatic and eiiicient in operation once the operation has beenstarted.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in, the features of construction, combination of elements,

and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a cross sectional view of the apparatus connected up to a suitable source of water supply;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view for illustrating the manner in which the method is carriedout.

Referring to the drawing, it is believed the invention may be better understood by initially referring to the diagrammatic illustration shown in Fig. 3. As there illustrated, there is provided a passage A extending into a sump B. The passage A may consist of any suitable pipe and is provided adjacent its upper oroutlet .end with a non-return valve D. There isarranged across the outlet C a conduit E for conveying a stream of water across the outlet; the conduit having a predetermined foot fall from the source of water supply to its outlet to provide a determined hydrostatic pressure. Located in conduit E just above the outlet C of passage :A is a valve F which divides the water column within the column into a drive portion above ,thevalve and a work portion below. thevalve; the valveF being provided with a counterweightG to permit adjusting of same to substantially balanced condition.

In operation, there is initially established in the passage A a column of water completely filling the passage, and valverF, if notalready open, is moved to open position, whereupon thereafter a flow of water is created within the .conduitE. As the water flows through conduit, E, it will obtain a velocity proportionate to the. foot fall of conduit E, thus building a hydrokinetic energy. Due to the flow of thewater, the friction acting against valve F. will cause it to close, and interrupt the flow, whereupon the flow of the drive portion above the valve F will beinstantaneously checked, whereas the hydrokinetic energy of the work portion below the valve F will cause it to flow past the outlet C. When this occurs, there will be created a suction or vacuum at the outlet C from thirty to thirty-fivetimes greater than the hydrostatic pressure due to thehydrokinetic energy of the moving liquid, causing the valve D to open and thus open the passage A to suction, whereupon the column of Water will be drawn upward. or forced intothe conduit Due to the creation of the suction and the removal of the driving force dueto sudden closing of the valve F, the work portion will then react, whereupon valve D will close and valveF will reopen and the drive portion will be reestablished through the conduit E until the valve F again closes and the aforedescribed cycle isrepeated.

As a practical application of themethod, there is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 an apparatus for creating a high vacuum; this apparatus comprising a tank or container. Ill having a cylindrical body l2 and top and bottom closure members I?! and I6. In order to make the tank airtight, the top and bottom edges of the body member l2 are positioned in suitable gasketed recesses it} pro.- vided in the top and bottom members. To secure the tank together, the top andbottom members are of larger diameter than the body l2 to permit the provision of aligned openings for receiving a plurality of securing tie rods ,22. The top member is further provided with a central opening 15, and secured in alignment therewith is a tube 46- depending downwardly and terminating just short of the bottom members I6. The .tube 46 is secured in a flange 48 held in position by bolts 50, which bolts .also secure in position the flange 31 which constitutes a seat for non-return valve '36, suitable ,gasketing being used to assure air tightness. The valve 36 is slidably mounted on a stud 38 terminating at its upper end in an enlarged head 40 and at its lower end in a threaded portion for securing the stud in a spider 42 integral with flange 31. There is further arranged on the stud 38 and located between the valve and the head 40 a light spiral spring 44 functioning to normally close the valve with a quick action; the spring being sufliciently light to permit the valve to open upon a pressure difierential to opposite sides of the valve.

For convenience in manufacture and to permit ready assembly, valve 36 is located in a chamber 24 having a cylindrical body 26 and top closure member 28. The chamber 24 is located centrally of the top member I4 of the tank I0, and in order to make the chamber airtight the body is positioned in gasketed recesses 30 provided in the top chamber member 28 and the tank top member l4. The chamber top member 28 is also of greater diameter than the body member to permit the provision of openings aligned with openings in the tank top member l4 for receiving a plurality of securing tie rods 32. I I I In order to complete the vacuum producing means, the top member 28 of the chamber. is provided with a centrally arranged outlet 54 in which there is mounteda nipple 56. and in turn there i mounted on the nipple a transverse fitting 58. The fitting 58 terminates at one end in a flange 60 for securing thereon a flanged end 62 of a drive pipe 64 which connects to a suitable source of water supply, here shown as a tank 65. Adjacent the flange 62 and the drive pipe 64 is provided with a belied end 66 to provide a valve chamber for receiving a valve.68 which seats against the open end ofthe fitting 58. I In order to operate the valve, it is carried on the end of a valve stem extending through a bore 1| provided in an enlarged section 12-of the drive pipe 64; the stem carrying at its outer end a grooved fitting 14. 7' 2 Cooperating with the valve stem 10 isa bell crank lever 16, which lever is pivotally mounted at 18 on a fitting 80 secured onto thedrive pipe 64. The bell crank lever is so mounted that one arm 82 depends from the pivot 14 and terminates in a bifurcated end 84 receivable within the groove of the fitting 14, whereby pivoting of the crank willoperatethe arm. The other arm 86 of the bell crank lever 16 extends upwardly and forwardly from the pivot and is then provided with a horizontally extending portion 88 upon which there is mounted a counterweight 9D for purposes hereinafter described.

As indicated in the drawings, the drivepipe 64 extends upwardly from the valve 68'to the tank 65, whereby a gravity flow will result from the tank to the valve 68. To complete the apparatus, there is connected to the other end of the fitting 58 a discharge pipe 94 through which water passes when valve 68 is open; thispipe emptying at any convenient point lower than fitting 58 to obtain a predesired overall foot fall.

With the apparatu so constructed, it will be seen that the tube 46, valve 36, and chamber. 24 correspond in efiect to the passage A and valve D of the schematic showing in Fig. 3. In like manner, the drive pipe 64, fitting 58, and discharge pipe 94 correspond to the conduit E and the valve 68 and counterweight 98 respectively to the valve F and'counterweight G shown in Fig. 3. In operation, the tank 10 and chamber 24 are initially filled with water up to the fitting 58. Thereafter the counterweight 98 is adjusted until the valve 68 is in substantial balance. Withthese conditions, upon the opening of the valve 68, a flow will be created through the conduit,

comprising drive pipe 64, fitting 58, and the discharge pipe 94. liquid flows freely, but with increasing velocity, past valve 68, tending to close it, and across the chamber outlet, tending to draw water therefrom. This flow will continue until valve 68 becomes overbalanced toward closed position, whereupon the valve will suddenly close and interrupt the flow.

Upon the closing of the valve 68, a number of actions and reactions occur. That much of the water column within the drive pipe 64 (namely, the drive portion) will be suddenly checked, and the kinetic ene gy built by the flow will cause a surge towards the source of water supply, reducing the force acting against the valve 68. Simultaneously, the portion of the column within the fitting 58 and discharge pipe 94 (namely, the work portion) will continue to flow toward the outlet and away from the valve 68. When this occurs, a vacuum will be produced within that por.. tion of the fitting above the chamber. outlet 54, whereupon the water will rush from the chamber 24 into the fitting, creating a differential in pressure between tank 12 and chamber 24, causing valve 36 to open and water to rush from the tank into the chamber, and thus an increment of vacuum will be produced within the tank l0. When the water drawn from the tank I0 and chamber 24 has filled the void produced by the vacuum in the fitting 58 and pipe 94, the work portion of the stream, now lacking a driving force, having expended its energy in creating the. suction, will react toward valve 36, whereupon valve 36 will close. When this occurs, the combined reactions of the drive portions and work portions will overbalance and open valve 68 to cause the water to again flow through the system, and the cycle will be repeated. Each such repetition will result in a further increment of vacuum being produced in the tank l0 until a maximum vacuum has been reached. To utilize the effects of the vacuum produced in tank In, an outlet pipe may connect the tank to any device where vacuum is desired. a R r V In order to obtain satisfactory results after determining the foot fall of liquid to be used, the drive portion of the conduit from the source of liquid supply'and the drive portion should be made in a ratio of between one to three and one to five of the work portion to obtain the most eflicient results; it being apparent, of course, that these ratios could be changed and, while the system would still be operative, best efliciency would not result. It has likewise been found that for best efiiciency it is preferable to have the conduits so arranged that part of the foot fall is located to one side of the valve 68 and part to the other side and preferably with a preponderance to the side leading from the source of supply to the valve 68. As an example, in an apparatus built in accordance with the disclosure herein the valve 68 was located in the conduit at a distance of 5'6" from the source of water supply and with a 4' water head above the valve. The outlet or work portion of the conduit was 25', and thefoot fall from the valve to the outlet was 3'. Upon the creation of a flow through this conduit, a vacuum of approximately 31" of mercury was produced within the tank l8. In some instances, itrmay be found necessary to slightly overbalance valve Under these circumstances, the' B8 to prevent undue chattering or to overcome frictional resistance.

With this construction, once the operation has been started, the operation thereafter will be entirely automatic, due primarily to the natural forces built up by the flowing stream and the sudden checking of the flow producing kinetic energy which is thirty to thirty-five times greater than the hydrostatic pressure. Because of this, it will be seen that wherever a source of water is available the cost of operation is extremely small and the device will operate with maximum efliciency and substantially no care.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. A vacuum producing apparatus including a receiving vacuum tank including a body with a head removably secured thereto, a supplemental chamber secured to said head and including a dome shaped top with an opening from said chamber through said head into said vacuum tank, a valve to control said opening, a nipple secured to the top of said chamber, a fixture secured to said nipple and having an opening thereinto, a tube for downward flow of water into one end of said fixture, a tube for downward flow of water from the opposite end of said fixture, a valve to control flow into said fixture, and means for biasing said valve to an open position but yieldable to force exerted by flow of liquid along said passage whereby vacuum is created in said passage and extended into said tank.

2. A vacuum producing apparatus including a receiving vacuum tank with an opening therefrom, a valve for said opening, a fixture mounted above and supported by said tank and having an opening communicating therewith, a tube for flow of liquid into one end of said fixture, a bulbous formation on the end of said tube constituting a valve chamber, a tube for downward flow of liquid from the opposite end of said fixture, a valve located in said chamber and having a stem projecting outwardly through the side of the tube containing the chamber, and means operating upon said stem to bias said valve to an open position but yieldable to force exerted by flow of liquid along said passage whereby vacuum is created in said passage and extended into said tank.

3. A vacuum producing apparatus including a receiving tank with an opening therefrom, a tube projecting downwardly from said opening into proximity with the bottom of the tank, a valve to regulate said opening, a supplemental chamber in which said valve is located, a fixture mounted on said supplemental chamber and having an opening thereto with a passage for flow of liquid past the mouth of said opening, a tube for conducting downward flow of liquid into one end of said passage, a tube for conducting downward flow of liquid from said passage, a valve to control flow into said passage, and means for biasing said valve to an open position but yieldable to force exerted by flow of liquid along said passage whereby vacuum is created in said passage and extended into said tank.

4. In a system of the character described, a source of liquid supply, a conduit leading therefrom, the outlet of the conduit being lower than the source of supply to thereby establish a footfall and create a continuous flow of liquid through the conduit, a balanced valve positioned in the conduit and adapted to be moved to closed position by the fiow of liquid to stop said fiow above the valve and cause the fiow below the valve to move from the valve and produce a reduction in pressure adjacent the valve, the length of conduit below the valve being such that the flow below the valve will react following reduction in pressure to open the valve and reestablish the continuous flow through the conduit, a passage connecting into said conduit adjacent the point where reduction in pressure occurs, a second source of liquid supply to which said passage extends, and a non-return valve in the passage opened as a result of the reduction of pressure in said conduit and closed by the reactions in the liquid flow following the reduction of pressure.

5. In a system of the character described, a source of liquid supply, a conduit leading therefrom, the outlet of said conduit being lower than the source of liquid supply to thereby create a continuous liquid flow through the conduit, a valve in said conduit positioned intermediate of the ends thereof and closer to the liquid supply than to the conduit outlet, said valve being closed by the flow of liquid to stop said flow above the valve to cause the continued flow below the valve to move from the valve and produce a momentary reduction in pressure adjacent the valve and then react to open the valve to reestablish the continuous flow throughout the conduit, and a passage leading into said conduit at the point where the reduction in pressure occurs upon the closing of the first valve, and a normally closed non-return valve in said passage opened by the momentary reduction of pressure following the closing of the first valve and closed by the reactions causing the reopening of the first valve.

6. In a system of the character described, a source of water supply, a conduit leading therefrom, a balanced valve in said conduit adapted to be moved to closed position by the liquid flowing past the valve to thereby stop the flow of liquid above the valve and cause the flow below the valve to move from the valve and create a reduction in pressure in the conduit adjacent and below the valve, the length of conduit below the valve being such that the flow therein will react following the reduction in pressure to reopen the valve and establish the continuous flow through the conduit, a passage connecting to said conduit adjacent the point Where reduction in pressure occurs, a second source of liquid supply into which said passage extends, and a nonreturn valve in said passage adapted to be opened by the reduction in pressure in the conduitand closed by the reactions following the reduction in pressure.

ALFRED H. FRANCFORT. 

